Berlin Council Vote On New Police Station Starts Countdown On Referendum Petition

BILL LEUKHARDT, wleukhardt@courant.com

BERLIN — A two-week period in which people may petition for a referendum on a proposed $21 million police station is underway, triggered by a 4-3 council vote Tuesday approving a bond ordinance to finance the project.

The deadline is Aug. 27 to submit petitions with enough signatures to force the matter onto the November ballot, Deputy Town Clerk Marsha Busnarda said Wednesday.

According to the town charter, the petition must be signed by a minimum of 3 percent of registered voters, or 377 names.

"We need time to certify signatures and submit the papers to the secretary of the state to get the question on the November ballot," she said. The certified referendum request must be received by state election officials by Sept. 4.

Petition papers may be obtained from the town clerk's office, and must be returned by the Aug. 27 deadline.

Several dozen residents attended the town council hearing Tuesday night, some speaking in favor of the new police station, and others raising questions about the proposed cost and its impact on municipal tax bills.

After the hearing, the council vote along party lines — with Democrats prevailing 4-3 — authorizing the sale of bonds to raise money.

The police commission is inviting the public to its Aug. 20 meeting to learn more about the proposed station. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in the second-floor council chambers of Berlin town hall.

Since 1995, police studies have reported the need for a bigger station than the 9,500-square-foot headquarters housed since 1974 in part of the town hall basement.

The 30,000 square foot station proposed for town-owned land at 903-913 Farmington Avenue is designed to provide sufficient space to police for decades, police officials said last month.

The department moved into the basement station when it had 18 full-time officers and one part-time one. The force now has 42 officers, nine dispatchers and four support staffers.

The station lacks sufficient storage, lockups, rooms for interviews, training space, has inadequate ventilation, not enough room for dispatch and the computers and other technology that has become standard police equipment in the past 40 years. Much of the current station is not compliant with federal disability access laws.